Barbara Strozzi

Barbara Strozzi (also called Barbara Valle; baptised 6 August 1619 – 11 November 1677) was a Venetian composer and singer of the middle Baroque Period. During her lifetime, Strozzi published eight volumes of her own music, and had more secular music in print than any other composer of the era. She was baptized in the church of Santa Sofia in the Cannaregio district of Venice. Although her birth certificate does not state her father’s identity, it is assumed that her biological father was Giulio Strozzi, a poet and librettist, and a very influential figure in seventeenth-century Venice. He was a member of the Accademia degli Incogniti, one of the largest and most prestigious intellectual academies in Europe and a major political and social force in the Republic of Venice and beyond. He wrote in many literary media, for example, poetry, operas, prose, plays and lyrics for songs. Little is known about Barbara’s mother, but historians suspect that Isabella was a servant of Giulio, as both Barbara and her mother lived in Giulio’s household and were listed in his will. Barbara grew up in a household frequented by the greatest literary and musical minds of the age. More detailed accounts